Comments on: Edna the Inebriate Womanhttp://www.metafilter.com/130890/Edna-the-Inebriate-Woman/
Comments on MetaFilter post Edna the Inebriate WomanMon, 12 Aug 2013 12:30:20 -0800Mon, 12 Aug 2013 12:30:20 -0800en-ushttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss60Edna the Inebriate Womanhttp://www.metafilter.com/130890/Edna-the-Inebriate-Woman
The BBC broadcast a great deal of socially-aware drama during the 60s and 70s. Two of it's major successes were by <a href="http://www.jeremysandford.org.uk/jsarchive/jeremycf-jeremycv.html">Jeremy Sandford</a>. In 1971 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j566QVxBUmQ">Edna</a> <a href="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/459072/synopsis.html">the</a> <a href="http://wondersinthedark.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/edna-the-inebriate-woman-1971-ted-kotcheff/">Inebriate</a> <a href="http://www.tvcream.co.uk/?p=6642">Woman</a> featured a harrowing performance by Patricia Hayes and probably opened middle-England's eyes to the problems of homeless people in general and female alcoholism/homelessness in particular. <br /><br />Five years earlier, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1RYVjlP0dM">Cathy Come Home</a>, watched by a quarter of the British population, showed how easy it was to slip from working-class comfort into homelessness through no fault of your own, and how dehumanising and brutal life then became. It shocked a complacent nation and caused genuine social change. It is probably a more accurate reflection of mid-60s England than all those cliched clips of Swinging London, mini skirts and kaftans. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/sep/04/cathy-come-home-rings-true">Some people</a> think not enough has changed.
Both won many awards and are regarded as among the finest pieces the BBC broadcast during these decades, and possibly since. In my view although Cathy is the more important work, Edna has the most powerful performance. On his site, Jeremy Sandford, discusses <a href="http://www.jeremysandford.org.uk/jsarchive/warp-edna.html">his own experience</a> of the impact they made.post:www.metafilter.com,2013:site.130890Mon, 12 Aug 2013 12:04:06 -0800epojeremysandfordednatheinebriatewomancathycomehomeBy: epohttp://www.metafilter.com/130890/Edna-the-Inebriate-Woman#5136682
I should have said that Jeremy Sandford died in 2003. My hope is that his style of television hasn't died as well.comment:www.metafilter.com,2013:site.130890-5136682Mon, 12 Aug 2013 12:30:20 -0800epoBy: Katjusa Roquettehttp://www.metafilter.com/130890/Edna-the-Inebriate-Woman#5136741
The British do this sort of thing well, and that's a Good Thing.comment:www.metafilter.com,2013:site.130890-5136741Mon, 12 Aug 2013 13:04:30 -0800Katjusa Roquette